Let's say--hypothetically--that you're Batman, and--also hypothetically--that an alien policeman has demanded that you capture Superman for him, or he'll destroy all of Earth's cities.
Do you
A)
Invent a giant robot that spits kryptonite out of its chest?
B)
Trick Superman (with the old "glowing footprints gambit") into getting close to a wax figure of a monster (from Dimension X!!), the eyepiece of which you've cleverly replaced with kryptonite??
C)
Pull the "Jimmy Olsen," and try to trick him with the old "fake camera that plops out a piece of kryptonite" gambit;
D)
Find a city that somehow believes that a giant statue of Green Arrow makes an acceptable lighthouse; paint that statue with "kryptonite paint" (which you've just invented); make it give off "strange radio waves;" shoot arrows at passing ships, and hope that for some reason they call in Superman; and wait until Kal-El falls for this ridiculous cunning trap;
E) All of the above.
If you picked E, well, then, I guess you know your Silver Age DC comics!!
Oh, and the alien cop turned out to be a bad guy. Quelle surprise!! Again, Silver Age, right??
BONUS: Splash page that was far more disturbing than they intended...
...please don't ask where those stairs lead down to...
Batman never thinks to ask J'onn J'onzz, or Wonder Woman, or the Flash, or Green Lantern, or the entire JLA for help when the Earth is threatened, in World's Finest #122 (1961).
Do you
A)
Invent a giant robot that spits kryptonite out of its chest?B)
Trick Superman (with the old "glowing footprints gambit") into getting close to a wax figure of a monster (from Dimension X!!), the eyepiece of which you've cleverly replaced with kryptonite??C)
Pull the "Jimmy Olsen," and try to trick him with the old "fake camera that plops out a piece of kryptonite" gambit;D)
Find a city that somehow believes that a giant statue of Green Arrow makes an acceptable lighthouse; paint that statue with "kryptonite paint" (which you've just invented); make it give off "strange radio waves;" shoot arrows at passing ships, and hope that for some reason they call in Superman; and wait until Kal-El falls for this E) All of the above.
If you picked E, well, then, I guess you know your Silver Age DC comics!!
Oh, and the alien cop turned out to be a bad guy. Quelle surprise!! Again, Silver Age, right??
BONUS: Splash page that was far more disturbing than they intended...
...please don't ask where those stairs lead down to...Batman never thinks to ask J'onn J'onzz, or Wonder Woman, or the Flash, or Green Lantern, or the entire JLA for help when the Earth is threatened, in World's Finest #122 (1961).
The DC Silver Age: Comics FOR kids, (seemingly) written BY kids!
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess that was *literally* the case with teenager Jim Shooter writing Legion of Superheroes stories....but wow, so many of those old DC stories had the same kind of nonsensical, improbable tales children might improvise. I guess when the vast amount of the audience WAS under ten years old, the wild flights of fancy weren't a problem.
There's just something so nuts, so endearingly stream-of-consciousness, so flipping "What the--??" about the DC stories of that era. At times they read just like children narrating wild adventures while playing with their action figures...Maybe their dads were taking notes and turning them into comic stories(!).
ReplyDeleteOr, in the case of Mort Weisinger, possibly consulting his (alleged) dream journals for story fodder. So many of those old Superman stories under his editorial watch had the same loopy illogic and random tomfoolery as a really freaky dream.
ReplyDeleteRobert Kanigher just wrote down whatever came out of head, all stream of consciousness.
ReplyDeleteHe actually said that in an interview. The man knew how to do DC comics, all I can say.
And let's not even get STARTED on Bob Haney.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Batman saying "daren't"?